Resonance breathing timer

How to do it

1. Sit or lie however you are comfortable.
2. Breathe in through your nose for five seconds.
3. Breathe out for five seconds, without pausing at the top.
4. Keep the two halves the same length. That is the whole pattern.

Using the timer on this page

1. Go back to the timer at the top of this page. It has already opened on Resonance breathing, set to the pattern printed above it.
2. Pick a pace of 4, 5, 6 or 7 seconds. The label beside it spells out what that pace means for this pattern.
3. Turn on Rest if you want a short pause, with no count and no tone, after each out-breath. It is off to start.
4. Set Length, anywhere from 1 to 20 minutes.
5. Press Begin. The button shows how long the session will take with the settings you picked.
6. Follow the figure: it grows as you breathe in and shrinks as you breathe out, while the screen names each phase. Pause or stop whenever you like.

What it does

Around six breaths a minute, heart rate and breath fall into step. That coupling is the most measured effect in breathwork.

Resonance breathing, also called coherent breathing

An even in and out with no holds at all, at around six breaths a minute. It is also called coherent breathing, and resonance frequency breathing.

The names come from different directions and describe one practice. "Coherent" refers to the breath and the heart rhythm moving in step; "resonance" to the breathing rate at which that happens most strongly, which is usually put at around six breaths a minute.

There are no holds and nothing to count past a handful of seconds. That makes it the simplest pattern here to keep up for a long stretch, and the Length setting runs it for as long as you choose.

At a glance

Pattern

In 5 s · Out 5 s

One cycle

10 seconds

Cadence

about 6 breaths a minute

Holds

none

Length

adjustable, 1 to 20 minutes; 5 to start

Pace

adjustable, 4 to 7 seconds, in whole seconds

Rest after the out-breath

optional, off to start

Runs

in this browser, and in the app

Timing variations

Pace sets both halves at once, so the in-breath and the out-breath stay equal at every setting. A slower pace means fewer breaths a minute; each row below is worked out by the same code that runs the timer, so it is exactly what Begin will play.

Pace 4 s

In 4 s · Out 4 s — 8 s a cycle, about 7.5 breaths a minute

Pace 5 s

In 5 s · Out 5 s — 10 s a cycle, about 6 breaths a minute

Pace 6 s

In 6 s · Out 6 s — 12 s a cycle, about 5 breaths a minute

Pace 7 s

In 7 s · Out 7 s — 14 s a cycle, about 4.3 breaths a minute

Rest on, pace 5 s

In 5 s · Out 5 s · Rest 1 s — 11 s a cycle

1 min

6 cycles at 5 s

5 min

30 cycles at 5 s

20 min

120 cycles at 5 s

Rest adds a short pause after each out-breath, scaled to its length, with no count and no tone. Length sets the minutes, and the timer fits whole cycles into them so a session never stops part-way through a breath.

The app

Tide is a breathing timer that runs on your phone or in this browser. It opens ready to go and lets you set any pattern you like.

On your phone it runs with sound and haptics, and it works with no connection at all.